To make the UK a tech leader, retail money must be given more access to private investments April 15, 2021 It should be a good thing that Oxford Nanopore, Deliveroo, and Cazoo are all listing, regardless of their early stock market performance. But who in particular will be celebrating? It’s not clear whether much of the value created will be seen by the person on the street – and if we really want the broader [...]
Ministers must avoid slap-dash rules for Covid passports or they risk falling foul of human rights laws April 14, 2021 Are they a ticket to freedom or a tool of oppression? Will they encourage vaccinations or discriminate against vaccine sceptics? Are they worth the paper, or the code, they are written on? As arguments swirl around “Covid status certificates” or “Vaccine Passports” in the corridors of power around the world, human rights law may help [...]
Britain has a productivity problem – but we have the tools to solve it April 14, 2021 Budgets come and go. There is a huge buildup, the papers are filled with speculation and leaks, and in the days before excitement in Westminster reaches fever pitch. It is one of the few times when you will find all backbench MPs avidly reading government documents in detail because they know the details matter. Most [...]
Boris Johnson’s push for mass testing is set for failure before it even gets off the grounds April 14, 2021 The campaign for regular, mass Covid resting has begun in earnest. From last Friday, everyone in England has been eligible to access lateral flow tests for free. The government would like people to test themselves twice a week. Under the slogan “Hands, Face, Space, Fresh Air”, the public is being urged to use the NHS [...]
Brexit: Paperwork and bureaucracy have created barriers at the border as tough as tariffs April 13, 2021 In the months since the Brexit transition period ended, trade flows at British borders have plummeted and border checks have been deemed so unworkable that their implementation has been pushed back by a year. Dire figures and delays point to the fact there is far more to free trade than tariffs, and still much to [...]
Facebook: personalised advertising isn’t all bad – it can support bricks and mortar retail April 13, 2021 There has been much talk in recent years about “bricks versus clicks” and the threat that the rise of online shopping would ultimately mark the downfall of the Great British High Street. The strongest small to medium sized businesses are those that make the most of all the channels available to them to reach their [...]
To make Britain competitive globally, we must strip away regulatory red tape April 13, 2021 Last month, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) made a ruling which blocked the merger of the two British crowdfunding sites Seedrs and Crowdcube. This was wrong for a slew of reasons, not the least because Seedrs and Crowdcube are both tiny companies that should be below the regulatory radar. Both companies are currently [...]
Credit Suisse, Greensill and Archegos: how did it all go so wrong? April 12, 2021 Spare a thought as the week begins for Christine Graeff, the group head of corporate communications for Credit Suisse. The Swiss finance giant has lost billions of dollars in recent weeks in what has been branded a “disaster pile-up”. The basic cause is easy enough to diagnose: Credit Suisse provided financial backing for the the [...]
Bloomberg: data accessibility is the key to the future of work April 12, 2021 At Bloomberg, we’ve learned from experience how to weather market disruptions over nearly four decades serving the global financial community. From the 1987 market crash to the global financial crisis of 2008, we have proven our ability to help our customers quickly adapt and remain productive. When Covid-19 hit in early 2020, we recognised similarities [...]
We must help the small businesses in the Square Mile get back on their feet April 12, 2021 From today, many businesses that are so essential to the energy and vibrancy of the Square Mile will be able to reopen their doors and welcome back customers. This is a much-needed return to a semblance of normality after a long and difficult winter. Large parts of the City have adapted remarkably well to working [...]